Money Can’t Buy Happiness?

| May 21, 2009

It’s a cliché I heard a lot while I was writing The Richest Man in Town: “Money can’t buy happiness.” I can tell you that there are a lot of miserable rich people out there, and it is certainly true that pursuing money for money’s sake will not lead to a satisfying life. But for RMITs wealth is not only a tool to achieve great things and add value to the community; it’s also the reward for their hard labor, that allows them to pursue their passions and have a full, well-rounded life. Across the board, I found that having money is indeed related to happiness. And science backs me up: In April of last year, University of Pennsylvania economists Betsy Stevenson and Justin Wolfers presented a study at the Brookings Institute in Washington, D.C., on just this subject. According to the New York Times, Stevenson and Wolfers found that 90 percent of the households in America that have incomes of $250,000 or more call themselves “very happy.”

My Cousin Won the Lottery

| March 12, 2009

I have never personally known anyone to win the lottery—until now. Recently my first cousin and her husband won the Georgia Lottery, to the tune of $133 million. That sum will go a long way, especially in these recessionary times, in Carrollton, Georgia, population 22,000. They are now the richest folks in town. On hearing the […]